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Deeplinks Blog posts about PATRIOT Act

Last Friday we blogged the news of a revolt in Congress against the latest draft of the PATRIOT renewal bill coming out of the House/Senate conference committee. That draft lacked many of the civil liberties reforms that were in the Senate version, and a bipartisan coalition of concerned senators and representatives vowed to oppose the bill unless those checks and balances were put back in.

At the time, we wondered: "Will the conference leaders bow to pressure and rewrite the conference report to better protect our rights, so that they can get a vote on it before the holiday? Or will they stand firm and risk a drawn-out public debate on PATRIOT and civil liberties, which can only weaken their position? We don't know yet."

Earlier this week, when the legislative conference tasked with reconciling the House and Senate versions of the PATRIOT renewal bill started circulating drafts of its so-called "compromise", a vote seemed certain by the end of the week. But the civil liberties community recognized the conference report for what it was: the same old PATRIOT with illusory reforms.

Luckily, several dedicated and patriotic Senators and Representatives--yes, Virginia, they do exist!--recognized it too and have revolted, promising to oppose the conference report if more real checks and balances from the Senate version of the bill aren't put back in.

Thanks to everyone who called Congress yesterday to voice opposition to the draft PATRIOT renewal bill, which we expect a vote on soon. It looks like our voices were heard--the Associated Press isreporting that because of civil liberties concerns, the draft conference report was *not* filed last night as expected, and won't be hitting the House floor today. Instead, based on the objections of civil liberties groups and opposition by a bipartisan group of Senators, the contents of the final conference report are still being fought over.

Last week, as Senators and Congresspersons met in conference to negotiate the final PATRIOT reauthorization bill, we had high hopes that they would add meaningful new checks and balances to the USA PATRIOT Act.

But EFF has obtained a draft of the final conference report (in three parts: one, two, and three). It is exactly what we feared: the same old PATRIOT Act, with a grab-bag of illusory reforms that will do little to curb abuse of the Act's most dangerous powers.

On the Sunday talk shows, several senators were pressed to comment on the Washington Post's investigative report showing that the FBI issues more than 30,000 national security letters a year. As reported in the New York Times, the Associated Press and a follow up story in the Post:

NBC's Meet the Press
"We should not ever give up freedom on the basis of fear, and any freedom that we give up should be limited in time and limited in scope," Senator Tom Coburn, an Oklahoma Republican who is a member of the Judiciary Committee.